Waterline thermostat



May 2, 1961 H. B. DRAPEAU 2,982,477

WATERLINE THERMOSTAT Filed Jan. 9, 1958 /27 V217 z 'ro /d 5. Drapeau United States Patent O WATERLINE THERMOSTAT Harold B. Drapeau, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to The Dole 'lailve Company, Morton Grove, Ill., a corporation of Filed Jan. 9, 1958, Ser. No. 708,013

1 Claim. (Cl. 236-345) This invention relates to choke type waterline thermostats and more particularly to by-pass thermostats adapted to control coolant flow through an internal combustion engine.

lt has been found advantageous to provide a means associated with the cooling system of internal combustion engines to control the flow of fluid between the engine and some cooling means, such as a radiator, wherein there is ameansfor by-passing coolant around the radiator when the coolant is at a certain predetermined temperature. a

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a single thermostatic valve means for controlling coolant flow both to a radiator and to a by-pass ppe associated with an internal combustion engine or the It is a further object of this invention to provide a choke type thermostatic valve which is of simple design and'may be readily manufactured for controlling both fluid flow to the radiator and the by-pass of fluid around the radiator.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a Vertical sectional view through the coolant conduits and valve regulating mechanism therefor for an internal combustion engine; and

Figure 2 is a partially diagrammatic vertical sectional view through a portion of the cooling system of an internal combustion engine showing some parts in section and others in full elevation. w f

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing a coolant conduit which is connected at both outer end portions to each bank of a V-8 typeengine (not shown) is ported in opposing wall portions as indicated at 11 and 12, respectively,.for reasons which will hereinafter become obvious.

The port 11 has a shoulder 13 around the inner circumference thereof forming the minimum diameter of the port which is arranged to seat a thermostatic valve 1'4V constructed in accordance with the present invention. A hose fitting 15 is connected to the coolant conduit 10 and is in communication with the port 11 for purposes of carrying coolant from the conduit 10 to a radiator or some other well known type of cooling means. As is well known in the art, a gasket 16 is provided between the conduit 10 and the hose fitting 15 for purposes of providing a fluid tight sealetherebetween.

It may now clearly be seen that a circular securing ring 20 of the thermostat 14 is rigidly secured in the aperture 11 by means of its abutment with overhanging edges 21 of the hose fitting 15 and by means of its abutment on the underside of the ring with the annular shoulder 13.

An inverted cup 23 is rigidly secured to the secnring ring 20 by means of a plurality of integrally formed connecting arms 24. As may be most clearly seen in Figure 1 the inverted cup has a boss 25 projecting from the bot- ICC tom thereof which is hollowed out as at 26 to provide a means for receivng the forward end portion of a power member or thrust pin 27 of a thermally responsive power unit 28. The thermal power element 28 is preferably of the type employing a micro-crystalline wax or other power type thermal element, the cylinder 29 of which forms a guide for the power member or thrust pin 27. The power member 27 is abutted -at its inner end by a flexible seal or membrane (not shown) containing a fusible thermally expansible material within a casing 30 of the thermostatic element. 'Ihe fusible material is fusible at the Operating range of the thermostatic element and upon fusion thereof extends the power member or thrust pin 27 from the cylinder 29.

The thermally expansible material may be a WaxV alone,

such as mcro-crystalline wax, or may be a micro-crystalline Wax in composition with a metal powder and a binder, such as is shown and described in the Vernet Patent No. 2,259,846. The thermostatic element itself may be of the same general type as isshown and described in the Vernet Patent No. v2,368,181 dated January 30, 1945. Such types of thermostatic elements are relatively simple and inexpensive and exert a positive driving force against the power member or thrust pin 27, which drives the power member with far more power, a far greater distance than other types of thermostatic elements.

The casing 30 of the thermal element 28 extends through a centrally located aperture 31 in a double action choke valve 32. An integrally formed spider 33 grips the clamping ring 34 of the power unit to rigidly connect the power unit to the double action valve 32. v

The double laction valve 32 is cup-like in form 'and has a relatively flat bottom 35 which is apertured as at 36 for reasons that will hereinafter become apparent. The bottom surface 35 of the double action valve 32 terminates in a vertically upstanding wall portion 37 which is guided by a sealing ring 38 impressed in a groove 39 of the lip 40 of the nverted cup member 23 for longitudinal reciprocal sliding movement with respect thereto.

It will now be noted that the upper edge of the cuplike double action valve 32 is bent slightly outwardly to form a lip 41 which is arranged to seat against a chamfered surface 41a of the securing ring 20. I-Ience, it can be readily seen that upon fusion or partial fusion of the thermally expansible material within the casing 30 of the power unit 28 the body of the power unit will react against the thrust member 27 to axially move the power unit 28 and the double action valve 32, to which it is attached, in a downward direction away from the valve seat 41a of the securing ring 20. This movement will allow fluid to flow from the engine between the lip 41 and the chamfered edge 41a to the radiator. When the ambient temperature of the thermal power 28 becomes reduced to the critical point at which the thermally expansible material again begins to solidify the power unit and valve member 32 will be returned to the position shown in Figure l by means of a retum spring 42. This compression spring 42 is seated at its lower end portion on a spring seat 43 secured to the inner edge portion of inverted cup 23 and abuts at its upper end against a flange portion 44 of a follower 45 which is rigidly secured to the cylinder portion 29 of the power unit 28.

When the lip 41 of the cup-like valve member 32 is in engagement with the chamfered surface 41a there will be substantially no fluid flow to the radiator but there will be maximum flow to the by-pass outlet 13. Conversely, as the cup-like valve member 32 moves out of engagement with the chamfered surface 41a, fluid flow to the radiator will become greater and fluid flow tothe by-pass port 12 will become proportionately smaller. The valve is, in fact, so arranged that the outer corner P'atented May 2, 19671 surface of the valve member 32 will come into engagement with the wall portion defining the port 12 to completely close off all fluid flow to the by-pass Outlet. It is novv apparent that the apertures 36 are provided to prevent any fluid pressure buildup between the cup 32 and the inverted cup 23 due to leakage past the sealing ring 38. Hence, a single choke type thermostatic valve of unitary construction has been provided both as a means for regulating fluid flow to the radiator and regulating fluid flow to the by-pass and internal combustion engine. It will be apparent that applicant's novel valve structure is readily adaptable for controlling fluid flow through two diametrically opposed ports in a fluid conduit.

It will also be noted that this embodiment of the invention has been used for illustrative purposes only and that various modificatons and variations of this invention may be effected without departing from the novel spirit and scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

In a by-pass coolant system for controlling the temperature of the coolant of an internal combustion engine having two banks, a fluid conduit adapted to be connected to the banks of the internal combustion engine, aligned first and second ports in said conduit, a first port having a cylindrical wall, said port being a by-pass port for by-passing coolant back to the banks of the engine and the second port adapted to have connection with the radiator for the engine, a thermostatically operated valve in operative association with said ports, operable to efiect the closing of one port and the opening of the other in accordance with the temperature of the coolant, and having an annular retainer mounted in said conduit the inner margin of which defines said second port, said retainer having an inner chamfered edge on the Upstream side thereof defining a valve seat, and having connectng arms extending inwardly therefrom having a generally conically-shaped cup member formed integrally therewith having a closed small diameter end adjacent said second port and extending within said conduit upstream of said valve seat and concentric with said ports, said cup member opening toward said first port and having a lip at the large diameter end thereof having an outwardly opening annular groove extending thereabout having a sealing ring seated within said groove, a thermally responsive power unit disposed within said cup member and having a casing and a power member extensibly movable with respect thcreto and engageable with the small diameter end of said cup member adjacent said second port and reacting against said cup member, a follower secured to said power unit, a spring seated within said cup member at the large diameter end thereof and seated on said follower at its other end, for effecting retraction of said power unit and the closing of said second port, and a cup-shaped choke valve mounted on said casing of said power unit and having a generally cylindrical inner wall slidably engaging said sealing ring, a bottom portion movable within said cylindrical wall of said first port and blocking the passage of fiuid therethrough, and a lip at the opposte end thereof turned outwardly with respect to said wall and having an edge portion extending at the angle of said chamfered valve seat for engagement therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,743,997 Davis et al. Ian. 14, 1930 1,784,063 Giesler Dec. 9, 1930 2,829,834 Drapeau et al. Apr. 8, 1958 2,87l,836 Doughty Feb. 3, 1959 2.872,117 Puster Feb. 3, 1959 2,872,119 Puster Feb. 3, 1959 2,901,174 Branson Aug. 25, 1959 

